Virginia Regulatory Town Hall
Agency
Department of Education
 
Board
State Board of Education
 
Guidance Document Change: The guidance document "Model Policies Concerning Instructional Materials with Sexually Explicit Content" was developed in conjunction with stakeholders in order to comply with SB656 (2022).
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7/26/22  1:08 pm
Commenter: Alicia DeFonzo

If your kids have a smart phone...
 

A few thoughts as a literature professor, author, citizen, and mother:

Every teacher (and state education guidelines) already gages the maturity, reading level, and emotional intelligence of the age range they teach. No teacher I have ever met or spoken to has ever attempted to heighten or abuse that maturity at the wrong time. In fact, they are often trying to accomplish the opposition - spread information safely and appropriately at a time students need most. 

Several of our middle and high school students have smart phones, social media, access to Tiktok and other video apps. One might suggest that instead of fighting against teachers and schools for gaging age-appropriateness of sexual content, you could arm them with the proper tools and support, and in turn, protect and teach our children facing real world problems like the hyper-increase in suicide rates, self-harm, body dysmorphia, unsafe sex are all reflected in their smart phones. 

Additionally, restricting book and informational material access are the first steps against democracy. The more we limit what our children can and cannot access, the more government gets involved (the same government that claims to be against big government), the more we chip away at our Constitutional rights. 

 

 

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